AT THE WATER COOLER: Iowa State's showdown with Kansas at Hilton Coliseum (9 p.m. ET, ESPN) has more subplots than a James Bond thriller. The visiting Jayhawks, whose non-conference schedule concluded with a lackluster home loss to San Diego State, have now reeled off back-to-back wins to start the Big 12 part of the schedule.

Saturday's triumph against archrival Kansas State was particularly pleasing to their vocal fans as well as coach Bill Self, who watched the Jayhawks play with hustle and effort to match their talent. Iowa State was knocked from the ranks of the unbeaten at Oklahoma, but Cyclones' faithful are more concerned with the condition of explosive scorer DeAndre Kane, who turned an ankle near the end of that contest in Norman. His availability will likely not be known until game time.

ON DECK TONIGHT: Other marquee matchups to watch on Monday night. All times Eastern. Here's a look at the full schedule.

— Virginia at Duke (7 p.m., ESPN)

— Texas at West Virginia (7 p.m., ESPNU)

— Syracuse at Boston College (9 p.m., ESPNU)

NUMBER OF THE DAY: 3

If you'd peeked ahead at the first few weeks of the ACC schedule, you probably would have predicted one of the participants in tonight's featured match-up would be 3-0. But you likely would have thought it would be host Duke rather than streaking Virginia (7 p.m. ET, ESPN). The Blue Devils slumped to a surprising 1-2 start in league play with Saturday's puzzling loss at Clemson. They'll try to get well with the help of their supporters in Cameron Indoor Stadium. But the Cavaliers, who were inconsistent during their pre-conference slate, have won their first three ACC contests by at least 12 points. Two of those were on the road, including Saturday's 31-point thrashing of N.C. State.

WORDS OF THE DAY: "I told him don't pass up another shot, and it just so happened he got another look." — Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford of Markel Brown, who had passed up an open three-pointer less than a minute before taking — and hitting — the winning trey with 12 seconds remaining in Saturday's 73-72 win at West Virginia. The Mountaineers have little time to bounce back from that heartbreaker as they host Texas tonight (7 p.m. ET, ESPNU).